Quinn activates response center for flooding

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Pat Quinn has initiated a state response center to monitor flooding and severe weather in portions of Illinois and help coordinate assistance local authorities may need.

It's called the State Incident Response Center.

Flooding has forced authorities to close sections of several major expressways around Chicago. Schools have been canceled, and several hundred flights were scrapped at O'Hare International Airport, where Thursday's storm has dumped more than 5 inches of rain. Also the rainstorm has ripped open a sinkhole on the city's South Side.

Quinn is urging the public to stay alert.

He had events scheduled in Springfield on Thursday but in a statement says that he plans to change that so he can assess flooded areas and the emergency response himself.